Isaiah 21 already. Pretty good, pretty good that we've gone this far.
And as we've been going through the book of Isaiah, there's been a few comments
that have been brought up at church, and some of those comments usually are
I don't know how you see anything in these chapters past time.
Or these passages, these chapters seem so dry, I don't know how you get anything out of that.
And look, you know, I'll be honest with you, like passages like this, even in Isaiah 21,
they're difficult to preach from.
And look, don't get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the major prophets,
Isaiah, Jeremiah. If you have not read the Bible cover to cover once,
and you're just reading through these books the first time,
a lot of it's going to go over your head.
Now that doesn't mean I'm some wise, ultra-wise kind of guy.
I've just been saved since I was four years old, I've heard the Bible since I've been young,
I've been reading my Bible over and over again,
and of course when I get to Isaiah 21 I can see how dry it may seem,
but many times when you get to a passage like this, all you want to do
from your experience of reading the Bible multiple times
is find what is similar, or what are parallels.
There are certain phrases or language or descriptions that's going to remind you
about other stories, other events in the Bible.
And the Bible is not this ultra-complex book where you've got the Bible codes,
and if you number the letters this way it talks about Barack Obama,
and if it's this way it explains the date of the end of the Earth or something like that.
The Bible's written in our English, the King James Bible,
it's written in a common language.
All we need to do is just read it, pay attention, ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand the Word,
and as you grow, as you mature in the Christian faith,
as you read the Bible more and more, you're going to find more parallels,
you're going to find more similarities, and when you compare Scripture with Scripture,
it all starts to make a lot more sense.
So, the title is coming from verse number 6, there in Isaiah 21, verse number 6,
For thus have the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman.
The title for the sermon tonight is Set a Watchman.
The watchman gets brought up a few times in this chapter,
and of course a watchman is someone that would stand on the walls of the city,
and they would be looking out, and their job was to watch.
You know, they'd be watching during the day, they'd be watching during the night,
of course being a watchman at night was much more difficult because of the lack of light,
and as a watchman it was your job to report on any suspicious behavior,
it was your job to alert the city of an incoming enemy,
you know, what you see, you are to proclaim.
Now, that might seem like an easy task, but it's not always that easy,
because as you see people approaching the city,
you know, your mere thoughts are, well, is this just a neighbor from a foreign town?
Are these people coming from a nation that we're friendly with?
Are these traders coming to buy and sell?
Or are these enemies? Are these soldiers? Are these wicked people?
It's not always that easy as a watchman.
You're just watching people come in and out of the city,
and you, as you see, you have to make an assessment,
and you've got to call it out when you believe there is danger to the city.
But how embarrassing would it be for a watchman to call out,
danger, and all it is is some fisherman coming, you know,
with a great number of fish that they caught to sell into the city.
That would be embarrassing.
Or if a watchman goes, I don't know, it looks dangerous,
but I shouldn't alarm, I shouldn't make the city be alarmed,
because there could just be anybody, and then before you know it,
there are enemies, there are soldiers, it's an army coming to besiege the city.
You know, the job is not, it might sound easy, watch,
and tell people what's happening, but you're having to make an assessment.
You know, is this good? Is this something positive?
Is this something negative?
But the watchman's job is to proclaim what they see.
And it's not all that different from a preacher or a pastor, okay?
The pastor's role might look easy just by looking at it, right?
It's like, well, he prepares three sermons a week, you know, roughly.
He just gets behind the pulpit and preaches,
and I guess he studies the Bible as a watchman.
He's there to proclaim and to preach what he sees.
The job can't be that complicated, but now that I've done it a few years,
it's vastly more complicated, okay?
And it's, you know, you're not just assessing what God's Word says.
Not only do you have to proclaim what is positive,
but you also have to proclaim what is negative,
but you're also having to assess people as they're coming in and out of church,
you know, personalities, families, and situations,
and you're doing the best to, you know, be a watchman.
Some of that is like a vigil and paying attention
to the needs of everybody that is part of your church.
It's not actually as easy as it may seem, all right?
So as we go through Isaiah 21,
obviously we're talking about the prophet Isaiah.
In many ways, he's the watchman, he's the prophet,
he's the one proclaiming, he's the one that God is using
to say some negative things,
and we also see how preaching what is negative
has an effect on Isaiah's life.
So there in Isaiah 21, verse number 1,
it begins,
the burden of the deserts of the sea.
Now what I want you to do is keep your finger in Jeremiah 50 and 51.
Right now come into Jeremiah 51, okay?
So you're going, I mean that seems a little cryptic,
the burden of the desert of the sea.
Now let me just quickly tell you that this is Babylon.
This is a reference to Babylon once again, okay?
Now one of the reasons I know this Babylon
is because as we continue in Isaiah 21,
we definitely see that it's preaching to Babylon, okay?
But just to clarify, what would that mean?
The burden of the desert of the sea.
How does a sea of water have a desert?
Like that's very cryptic.
Well, it's symbolism, and when you look at Jeremiah 51,
Jeremiah 51 and verse number 1,
it says,
As thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will raise up against Babylon,
and against them that dwell in the midst of them,
that rise up against me a destroying wind.
I will send unto Babylon fanners,
and shall fan her,
and shall empty her land,
for in the day of trouble
they shall be against her roundabouts.
So you can see Jeremiah, which was a contemporary of Isaiah,
but it started to preach a little bit later during Isaiah's life,
but it's also preaching here against Babylon,
you know, the Babylon of that day.
But notice God uses this description
that is going to send a destroying wind.
He's going to send fanners to fan her,
to empty her land, like this just Russian wind
that's going to come and empty out the place.
Well, think of that,
just think of that description in Jeremiah 51,
and come back with me to Isaiah 21.
Keep your finger there in Jeremiah 51, as well.
So, if we see this symbol of God sending this wind,
you know, to flush out the inhabitants
and the people of Babylon,
then we can understand why there's a desert of the sea
where the sea once had these waters,
but then this mighty wind has come and laid it bare.
Now you've just got this desert.
And as you continue there in verse number 1,
it says, look at this,
as whirlwinds in the south pass through,
so it cometh from the desert from a terrible land.
And so instead of being fanners and a wind,
a destroying wind, Isaiah 21 verse 1 says,
as whirlwinds.
This is going to be a powerful wind
that's going to come through and destroy Babylon.
And of course, the empire that destroyed Babylon,
or took over Babylon we should say,
was the Medo-Persian Empire.
So this whirlwind is the Medo-Persian Empire.
In fact, God describes it later on in this chapter here in Isaiah 21.
But I want you to notice that the whirlwinds in the south pass through.
So these whirlwinds are coming from the south.
Now, we're in Isaiah 21.
What's the 21st book of the Bible?
Tim always has the answer,
but before Tim answers, someone else?
Ecclesiastes.
What did you say to me?
Nah, sorry man, I got it wrong.
It is Ecclesiastes.
You know why I got confused?
Because it's the same author.
Anyway, it's Ecclesiastes.
So I know you're going to think of it in Jeremiah,
but can't we meet to Ecclesiastes, please?
Ecclesiastes chapter 1, please.
Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and verse number 6.
So again, why are we doing this?
Because it is said by some that every chapter of Isaiah
is aligned with the book of the Bible by its corresponding number.
So we're in Isaiah 21.
What's the 21st book of the Bible?
Ecclesiastes.
So let's see if we can find some similarities,
similar teaching, similar themes in Ecclesiastes.
Well, when you go to Ecclesiastes,
and I strongly believe this is a strong correlation,
because while we're about to read Ecclesiastes 1,
it brings up a theme that you'll see throughout Isaiah 21.
And the theme is this.
It says in Ecclesiastes 1 verse 6,
The wind goeth toward the south.
Now remember in Isaiah 21, it says the whirlwind's in the south.
But anyway, the wind goeth toward the south,
and turneth about unto the north,
it whirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
So in Ecclesiastes,
this was known by God that winds have a circuit.
Air currents, as we call it today.
Obviously when this was written,
that was not known in the scientific realm.
Scientists, they read this in the Bible,
and they said, well, God says the wind has circuits.
It returns back to where it came from,
and then through God's word,
they were able to find this on the earth.
But the idea there of wind,
I don't know if you know how wind operates,
it's basically when hot air,
because you've got the equator of the earth,
and the equator is the hottest part of the earth.
So you've got warm wind there.
And when that warm wind meets cold wind,
it causes, sorry, when warm air meets cold air,
it causes the winds.
And it creates these currents.
But these currents go throughout the earth,
and they return back to where they started.
And so one of the things that we get out of Ecclesiastes,
and you'll see the same theme here in Isaiah 21,
is that as wind repeats its cycles,
so does history.
History repeats, okay?
This is why when we talk about Babylon,
we talk about these great kingdoms.
They rise, they fall.
Men make the same mistakes over and over again.
Men go through the same experiences over and over again.
And again, one of the major themes of Ecclesiastes is
that there is nothing new under the sun.
Everything continues.
There's almost this cycle that just continues over and over and over again.
History continues to repeat itself.
Come back with me to Isaiah 21.
Isaiah 21, in verse number 2.
It says,
A grievous vision is declared unto me.
So God's given Isaiah a vision that he's got to preach about.
And Isaiah says,
This is grievous.
He goes, Oh man.
I don't really want to preach this.
It makes me feel uncomfortable.
And again, what is the job of a watchman?
You've got to preach what you see.
God's given Isaiah a vision.
And as a watchman, this is what I've seen.
This is what I have to proclaim.
And look,
it's not that I'm the pastor of this church
and be thankful for this man or anything like that.
If we want to honor God,
if we have a fear of God, we want to honor his word.
If we're preachers,
and I'm praying that God will send a full-time pastor
to Blessed Hope Baptist Church.
Blessed Hope Baptist Church has a pastor.
That's me.
But I want God to raise up a man,
whether within our church,
whether without our church,
someone that is right,
and that man must be someone who,
if he sees a vision, he sees something,
whether it's positive, whether it's negative,
he's going to proclaim it anyway
because it's the vision,
it's the words that he's seen with his own eyes,
and that's what we have to proclaim.
And you think that's easy.
It's not actually that easy.
Because sometimes, you know,
boy, if I preach this,
it's going to upset somebody.
You know, as a pastor,
sometimes people speak to you of their personal lives,
of their struggles, of their sins,
of their hardships,
and then it's not unusual
where you might ring me up on a Saturday,
pastor, pray over this sin that I'm struggling with,
and then I'm getting ready to prepare a sermon,
and there it is.
It's about what you just spoke about,
and there I am preaching about it on Sunday,
and a brother or sister might get offended.
Pastor, why did you preach against?
It's just God's word was being preached.
It's not targeting somebody or someone
or, you know, that I just want to embarrass you
or proclaim your sins.
I'm not even trying to bring up anybody's name.
You know, and sometimes being a watchman,
being a preacher, it's grievous.
And sometimes I preach and I go home
and I'm a bit sad and I go,
boy, I know my brother or my sister
and the Lord's not going to like that sermon
because they mentioned something this week
and they think it's about them.
And I guess it is about them.
If the Lord's put it and the coincidence worked,
it's not a coincidence.
It's what God wanted.
It's what was seen in the vision of the watchman
and it needs to be proclaimed.
And look, I'm not trying to drive anybody away
from a desire to be in the ministry.
If there's someone here that wants to be a pastor,
the Bible says you desire a good work.
But don't think it's easy.
It's grievous.
It's challenging, okay?
It's hard, all right?
And, you know, as God's revealing
this destruction of Babylon to Isaiah,
he's having a hard time, man.
You know, this is something.
It's just, you see how much it overwhelms him.
Let's continue there for a second.
It says the treacherous dealer,
the treacherous dealer is the Medo-Persian empire.
The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, obviously.
That's why it's called the treacherous dealer, okay?
So he's dealing treacherously.
And the spoiler spoileth, all right?
So he's going to take the spoils of Babylon.
Then it says this, the words of God.
Go up, O Elam.
So Elam is a province in Persia, okay?
Then he says, besiege, O media.
That's the Medes, the Medo-Persian empire.
They're the ones that God said,
rise up, you know, I'm giving you power.
I'm going to give you victory over Babylon.
You go and you besiege and you go and destroy
that Babylonian empire.
It says, all the sign thereof have I made to cease.
Now, come back with me to Ecclesiastes.
Come back to Ecclesiastes chapter 2.
Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and verse number 18.
Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verse number 18.
Remember that the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously
and the spoiler spoileth.
So everything that Babylon, in their conquests,
all the spoils they got of war and victory, okay,
is now going to be given over to the Medo-Persian empire, okay?
They're going to spoil Babylon.
And so think about the king of Babylon.
Think about these people with these places of authority
and power, prestige and wealth.
All of that's going to be taken from them
and given to another.
And then when you look at Ecclesiastes 2,
and this is, of course, the writings of King Solomon
and King Solomon was one of the wealthiest
and the wisest man on the earth at his time.
And he says this in verse number 18, Ecclesiastes 2.18.
He says, Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun,
because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
It's this cycle that repeats.
Solomon says, Boy, I worked hard to get all this wealth and prosperity.
And it goes, But now I hate it, because I'm going to die
and somebody else is going to take all that I worked for
and take it for themselves.
He's saying, I can't take it with me when I die.
I can't take earthly treasures to heaven,
which is why, of course, we must have our hearts set
on treasures in heaven,
because that's going to last for all eternity.
But the treasures that we build up on this earth,
one day, if you just desire to be rich and wealthy,
one day you're going to look at all your possessions,
you're going to look at your huge bank account,
and you're going to go, I hate this stuff.
I worked so hard for it and I'm going to die
and I can't take any of it with me.
It's a cycle. It repeats.
Someone's going to take it.
As much as I love my house and the memory of my children growing up,
one day someone else is going to own it.
One day somebody else is going to then own it after them.
We've got this period of time on the earth to have our life
and we don't want to be people that are just so stuck
on carnal and material things
because we can't take it with us.
Cycles repeat, someone else is going to take it,
and Babylon, for a period of time,
they were blessed by God to have victory,
but now it's time for them to be spoiled.
Now it's time for the Medo-Persian Empire to come
and take the spoils of Babylon,
and then down in history,
then they're going to be conquered by the Grecian Empire,
and then down in history it's going to be the Roman Empire,
and so on and so forth.
Throughout history, it's going to be one after another.
History continues to repeat itself,
and brethren, this is why it's so important
that we always think of eternal things
because it's always going to be there.
Like the mansions that Jesus Christ has gone to repair,
it's always going to be there.
The treasures that we lay up in heaven,
the bank account that we have in heaven,
it's always going to be there.
We're not going to have a spoiler
who spoils us in heaven and takes it all away.
And so when we compare Isaiah and Ecclesiastes,
we see just the hopelessness of trying to
have great wealth and great prosperity
and great riches and great power
because it's all going to be taken from you
and you can't take it with you when you die anyway.
Back to Isaiah 21, verse number 3.
So God's given Isaiah this vision,
and then he says this,
Therefore are my loins filled with pain.
It's very grievous to Isaiah.
He says, ah man, this has given me a lot of pain.
He goes, pangs have taken hold upon me,
as the pangs of a woman that travaileth.
I was bowed down at the hearing of it.
I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
So he hears it and he sees it.
God gives him a vision.
He sees the future
because he can barely, he's just bowed down,
like he just can't even lift himself up.
I don't know if you've ever gone through
a time of stress or depression
and maybe you go to bed
and you just don't want to come out of bed.
You just can't do it.
I can't bring myself to just put myself on my feet.
You've got some great stress,
some burden upon you.
That's how Isaiah is feeling.
He's like, I can't preach this, Lord.
I don't want this vision.
I don't want to be thinking about
people being massacred and wiped out.
You know what I mean?
We're human beings.
Even an unsaved wicked man,
the last thing you want to be doing
is just like, all right,
they're going to be wiped out and destroyed.
Even though it's God's word
and we have to preach God's word
and we have to preach about hell
and the eternal torments
and we can't hide from God's word,
at the same time as a human being
does it not sadden you
to think that people are going to hell
and they're going to be tormented
forever and ever
and it's something that should be grievous to us,
even as a preacher,
even as someone who is a watchman.
I don't rejoice to think that people
are going to suffer for all eternity.
I don't suffer today
but I know in my new resurrected body
when I see Jesus Christ face to face
I will be rejoicing
because I will fully understand
his righteous judgments.
But Isaiah is just a man.
A man who is weak.
A man who is just an everyday man.
When we read about these great men of God
don't forget they're great men of God
because God is great.
They're just a regular human being
being faithful, being obedient
as a watchman
that God has instructed them to teach and to preach.
But also when we talk about Isaiah
and his pains that he's experiencing
this is also a double meaning.
Because his hearing
his seeing
it's almost like God's picked up Isaiah
and placed him into the future
and is experiencing the pain
that King Belshazzar is going to experience.
It's almost like he's picked up
and taken to the future
like a time machine.
And he's feeling the pains
and the fears and the concerns
of King Belshazzar.
So if you can come with me quickly
come with me quickly to
actually before, no you've got a finger in Jeremiah
come with me to Jeremiah 50
Jeremiah 50 please.
This is about King Belshazzar
and it says in Jeremiah 50 43
The king of Babylon
have heard the report of them
that's the meats
and his hands waxed feeble
anguish took hold of him
and pangs as of a woman in travail.
See it's the same suffering
that Belshazzar is experiencing
that Isaiah is experiencing.
It's the same.
Human beings like Isaiah's
seeing the pain of Belshazzar
even though Belshazzar is a wicked man
deserving the judgment of God.
Isaiah just like a regular human being
it burdens him.
It's grievous toward him.
So if we understand the double meaning
that it affects Isaiah
but it's also having this vision
and it's a double meaning
for King Belshazzar
then as we continue going through
Isaiah 21
you'll see how many similarities there are
with the story of King Belshazzar
when they were taken over.
So come back with me to Isaiah 21
and look at verse number 4
Isaiah says
My heart panted
fearfulness affrighted me
the night of my pleasure
hath he turned into fear unto me.
So Isaiah is saying
this was supposed to be a night of pleasure
but now it's a night of fear.
Verse number 5 it says
Prepare the table
watch in the watchtower
eat, drink, arise ye princes
and anoint the shield.
So we see that this night of pleasure
is that they're eating, they're drinking
there are authorities, there are princes
and the anointing of the shield
the shield is a device of defense
it's a shield, it's for defense.
And so of course they're setting watchmen
at the watchtower
can you watch for enemies
as we're having our time of pleasure?
And all of that
if you know the story of King Belshazzar
it starts to make a lot of sense.
So come with me to Daniel chapter 5
come with me to Daniel chapter 5
verse number 1
Daniel chapter 5 and verse number 1
Daniel chapter 5 verse number 1
The Bible says Belshazzar the king
made a great feast
to a thousand of his lords
and drank wine before the thousand.
So this is the night of pleasure
a great feast, a great banquet.
Verse number 2 Belshazzar
whilst he tasted the wine
commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels
which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken
out of the temple which was in Jerusalem
that the king and his princes
remember it said arise ye princes
it said drink arise ye princes
well, he's got the princes
his wives and his concubines
made drink therein.
You can see the parallel
with Isaiah 21 and Daniel chapter 5
and so they're having this drunken party
and then drinking from the golden and silver vessels
that were built for the house of God.
Drop down to verse number 4
They drank wine and praised
the God of gold
and of silver, of brass, of iron
of wood and of stone.
In the same hour
came four fingers of a man's hand
this is a miracle
and wrote over against the candlestick
upon the plaster
wall of the king's palace
and the king saw the part
of the hand that wrote
then the king's countenance was changed
remember he's having a night of pleasure
something about him changes
and his thoughts troubled him
so that the joints of his loins were loosed
and his knees
smelt one against another
all of a sudden a night of pleasure
becomes a night of fear
like we saw in Isaiah 21
and even his knees
they're banging together
he's so afraid that his hand
suddenly appears and starts writing
something on the wall
of course that was the hand of God
and the one that interpreted the writing
was Daniel, we're not going through the story right now
and the writing of the wall against Belshazzar
is that this very night
they'll be destroyed, he will die
and the kingdom will be ended
that was the whole message
of the hand of the wall
so come back with me to
Isaiah 21 and verse number 6
Isaiah 21 verse number 6
so even though Belshazzar had watchmen
even though they were watching for armies and enemies
you know, the enemies were too powerful
the Medo-Persian empire came through
conquered it, you know
King Belshazzar lost his life that very night
and even when you set up watchmen
you know, it's not the only solution
like, you know, I can preach the Bible to you
you know, I can warn you of sin
I can warn you of wickedness
you know, I can have my heart broken for you
but if you say, pastor, I just refuse to absorb that
pastor, I just refuse to apply that to my life
okay, I went to church, I ticked the box
but I'm going to go through life
I'm going to just continue to live the way I am
look, you're going to be destroyed
no matter what the watchman does
okay
look at verse number 6, Isaiah 21 verse number 6
that's the job of the preacher
you've got to declare what you see
I read that, I'm studying, I've got to prepare something, Lord
please place something on my heart to preach to your people
oh Lord, I don't think my church is going to like that sermon
do I skip it? do I void it? no
let him declare what he seeth
that's the preacher's job
and again, please don't get upset with the preacher
the preacher loves you
I'm not talking about just me, I'm talking about any man that gets up here to preach
they love you, they've spent time, they've spent hours
studying God's word
being insecure about what they might say
and should I say this? and have I studied this correctly?
I don't want to upset my Lord
I don't want to fail my pastor Sepulveda
there's so many other concerns that are on the hearts and the minds
of these preachers
please don't take the approach
that sermon wasn't that great or something like that
boy, the watchman's doing the best he can
but hey, you've got to respond
from what is being heard
you've got to hear
if the watchman says, the enemy's coming
prepare yourselves
I'm not convinced
you're going to be destroyed
you won't be ready for the battle
so the watchman looks out
verse number 7
and he saw a chariot
so this gives us an idea of what was happening
with Babylon that night
they're having this drunken party
the watchman, this is what they see
and he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen
a chariot of asses
and a chariot of camels
and he hearkened diligently with much heed
I never really thought about a chariot of camels
I guess that's what they had
they're still powerful creatures
verse number 8
and he cried, a lion
sorry, let me just read verse number 7 again
and he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen
a chariot of asses
and a chariot of camels
and he hearkened diligently
with much heed
alright, and he cried
so now, the watchman's seeing this
now he's crying
he's saying, guys, pay attention
he says, a lion
my lord, I stand continually
upon the watchtower
in the daytime
and I am set in my ward
whole nights
he says, look, I'm watching in the day
I'm watching in the night, but what I see
is a lion
now come with me to Jeremiah 50
Jeremiah 50
what is this lion?
okay
well in Jeremiah 50, verse number 43
now we already read Jeremiah 50 43
but let's just read it again
the king of Babylon
have heard the report of them
so the watchmen are going
there's a lion coming
there's an army coming
there are chariots coming
so the king of Babylon
heard the report of them
and his hands waxed feeble
anguish took hold of him
and pangs as of a woman in travail
we saw that before
behold, he shall come up
like a lion
so who's coming up like a lion?
King Cyrus
King Cyrus and his armies
are coming up like a lion
from the swelling of Jordan
unto the habitation of the strong
but I will make them suddenly
run away from her
and who is a chosen man
that I may appoint over her
who is like me, and who will appoint me
the time, and who is that shepherd
standing before me
don't worry so much about what we read there
at the end of verse number 44
but I want you to notice
that even though you might look at a passage like Isaiah 21
and you read that and you're like
I don't know what that's about
you see when you compare scripture with scripture
it all fits
it's not just
random words
and random thoughts
and I don't know who knows what that's about
the more you study
the more you read God's word
the more preaching here
you'll notice that the Bible is this super consistent
book
it has to be the hand of God
it has to be
and please forgive me if I fail as a pastor
like with the wisdom
cause it's deep
like it's complex
and all I can do is be a watchman
and say guys, a lion
a lion
right
come back with me to Isaiah 21
verse number 9
Isaiah 21 verse number 9
quickly come with me to Jeremiah 51
Jeremiah 51
Babylon is fallen, of course
if you know the book of Revelation
the same phrase
the same proclamation
we won't go into the end times
I've spent a lot of time going through the end times before
but just come with me to Jeremiah 51
verse number 8
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed
how for her
take barn for her pain
if so she may
if so she may be healed
and Babylon in a sense
was healed because it was a city
under that Medo-Persian empire
but Babylon as a kingdom was
wiped out, not to rise ever again
as a kingdom in that sense
but just showing you
it's almost like you gotta read
Isaiah 21 and Jeremiah 50 and 51
together to get the full picture
of God's prophecy of his teaching
back to Isaiah 21 verse number 10
oh my freshen and the corn of my floor
now
again preachers, I'm talking to you
and my church, I'm talking to all of you
but again I just want you to understand
the role of the preacher
the role of the pastor even
that which I have heard
of the Lord of hosts
the God of Israel
have I declared unto you
what is my job
to declare unto you
what I have heard of the Lord of hosts
the God of Israel
I don't want to declare
unto you just my
imagination
now are there times that I'm going to
try to use my
you know, my wisdom, my thoughts
you know, my logic
to build a further understanding
yes
but the primary job of the preacher
okay, and if you say pastor
you have a lot of wisdom, alright, doesn't matter
you don't need a lot of wisdom
if you've seen what God's word says
you preach and proclaim
God's word
cause that is going, look
as soon as you introduce wisdom
your thought, maybe this and that
as soon as you introduce the wisdom of man
you're diminishing
how much truth you're preaching
when you're proclaiming God's word
it's just the reality of it
human beings, we don't match
the wisdom of God
and so, we want to do exactly
what was proclaimed there, right
as it says, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts
the God of Israel, have I declared
unto you, like I said, the title for the sermon
tonight is Set a Watchman
as a watchman
you see, this is what's happening
I'll declare that, I'll proclaim that
I open God's word
I see, I understand
I've thought about it, now I proclaim
can be positive
can be negative
and it can be grievous
and many times the job of the pastor
is quite grievous
Isaiah 21 verse number 10
verse number 11
Isaiah 21 verse 11
we now have a new prophecy
the burden of Dumah
now
I'll read it
he calleth to me out of Seir
now Seir is a
inferior part of Edom
where the Edomites lived
it says he calleth me out of Seir
watchman, what of the night
now look, I don't know
I try to look into this a lot
I could not
I cannot 100% confirm
what Dumah is, what place Dumah is
but, it could be
another name for Edomia
which is another name for Edom
okay
and if he's calling me out of Seir
this could be a burden
for Edom
the children, the descendants of Esau
now, again
I want to be careful when I say that
that sounds correct to me
but it could be wrong, it's a bit of a question mark
what Dumah is
because Dumah was a name of one of Ishmael's
children as well
and so it could be from a different lineage
but anyway
again, what do we see in verse number 11
watchman
what of the night
so people are going to the watchman
watchman, what do you see
what's going on in the night
look
again, if someone is at a heart to be a pastor
I hope someone here says
man, I'd like to be a pastor one day
well, you're going to have questions
people are going to come up to you
what of the night
pastor, can you explain to me what's going on
right, think about
think about all the restrictions back then
man, I got so many phone calls
pastor, what's going on
is this the end times
what do we do
what of the night
verse number 12
the watchman said
so this is what he says, this is what he knows
the watchman said, the morning cometh
and also the night
if ye will inquire, inquire ye
return come
because look, this is all I've seen
morning and then the night
and again, it's the same theme
things repeat
okay, so
you know, what's going to happen tomorrow, the morning's going to come
and then tomorrow's going to be night as well
and the day after that, morning and night
there's repetition
things repeat one after another
and that's it, that's the end of that vision
that's the end of that kind of
new prophecy
that was given to Isaiah, because look at verse number 13
the burden upon Arabia, now it's a new burden
it's a new vision, so it's like
oh man, you've got these two verses, it's like what is that about
but I think I see
enough as to what this is about
is the watchman's job
okay, to once again proclaim
and you know what, I see a repetition
so, you know
long gone after I'm dead
God willing, if blessed hope, Baptist Church continues
and we have another preacher behind here
they should be preaching
God's word just like I was
it should not be some
brand new ideas
we're going to preach with some other holy book
and we're going to read
the book of Enoch and we're going to start preaching on that
no, no, no, you know what
we need to repeat
for a new generation, for a new people
we have to hear the same things over and over again
come with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 1
Ecclesiastes chapter 1
like we said
Ecclesiastes is the 21st book
of the Bible
and Ecclesiastes chapter 1
remember the watchman says, the morning cometh and also the night
or in Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse number 5
the sun also riseth
and the sun goeth down
and hasteth to his place
where he arose
the sun returns back with its cycle
you know, it's all the same
you know, and what has come
is going to come again
and so we see that, the watchman is saying the same thing
like, there's nothing that I should be
like, if I start teaching something brand new
that throughout Christian history
no one's ever heard
or you can pick up the Bible and go
I don't know what Pastor Kevin's speaking about
it's nowhere found in the Bible
then I'm not the watchman, I'm not the right watchman
we've got to preach
obviously, if we're going to be preaching right
we're going to be repeating
the things that have been said throughout history
throughout history
so, you know, preachers
this is another challenge for you
and look, I know what it's like
I know what it's like to be like
you know, preaching once a month
and I'm not having a go at the preacher, I love you guys
thank God for you guys
but I remember sometimes being like, oh man
the church, when I was in the past
was like, okay
I get to preach in about a month's time
I want to come out with something really good
something people have not heard
and then I realized, how foolish is that
I'm just going to preach the same things that I see in the Bible
and sometimes my sermons
will be almost equivalent to what the pastor preached
in the morning, if I was preaching in the afternoon
or something like that, or in the evening
it doesn't matter, okay
you know, the theme, again, cycles repeats
the sun rises, it goes down, it comes back
where it's been seen
if you come with me to Jeremiah 1
I don't know if you kept your finger in Jeremiah
Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse number 10
Jeremiah chapter 1 verse number 10
Now also when it comes to the watchman
who sees the morning and sees the night
the idea there is that
sometimes
the preaching is positive
and light
and then sometimes the preaching is
dark and negative
you know, but you've got to preach
at all
and in Jeremiah chapter 1 verse number 10
God says to Jeremiah
to have this day
set over the nations and over the kingdoms
look at this
to root out
to pull down
and to destroy
and to throw down
look, if you're going to root something out
like a plant, and you pull it out of the roots
you're pulling down, you're destroying
you're throwing down
that's negative, isn't it?
but then it says afterwards
to build and to plant
and that's positive
and so the preacher's job is to just preach
what they see
whether positive, whether it's negative
you've just got to do
you've got to be faithful to God, faithful to his word
faithful to the house of God
and preach everything that is found in the counsel of God
Can you come with me to the New Testament
in 2 Timothy chapter 4
2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse number 2
2 Timothy chapter 4
and of course the epistle to Timothy
they're known as pastoral epistles
instructions to pastors
instructions to pastors to be
if you say pastor, one day
I would like to do that, great
read 1 Timothy, read 2 Timothy
read Titus
read 1 and 2 Peter as well
but when you get to 2 Timothy chapter 4
verse number 2
it says preach the word
doesn't say preach your wisdom
preach the word
be instant, in season
out of season
look at this, reprove
that's negative, rebuke
that's negative
I don't want to reprove and rebuke
what if someone gets offended at church
yeah, yeah, but also exhort
that's encourage
build up, that's positive
exhort with all
long suffering
and doctrine
so I want to show you
an Old Testament preacher like Jeremiah
negative and positive
and in the New Testament, pastors
negative and positive
the watchman says
well it's night and it's day
sun rises and the sun sets
it all has to be preached
and it's tough because
you know, if you want to build
a big church
just forget the negative
it's all going to be positive
all the time
I don't know how you
I don't know how you preach
for the prophets
major and minor prophets
and just be positive all the time
it's impossible
how do you do it?
even Isaiah's having a hard time
somehow these Joel Olsteins
the world seems to somehow
just only positive
only happy, only smiling
there's destruction
you know, we
when we see the judgment
of God, it reminds us
it should remind us just how wicked we are
as human beings
not just the systems
and not just the politicians
but even us
we deserve hell
we're sinners
we thank God for his grace
and when we understand the negative
we understand the wickedness of man
then we truly understand the love of God
we truly understand his love
we truly understand his sacrifice
that Jesus would die in my place
and pay for all of my sins
so the negative is so important
to appreciate what is positive
but anyway, let's continue to the next prophecy
in Isaiah 21 and verse 13
the burden upon Arabia
now, look
I don't have a lot of
this is where brother Tim is more of an expert, right?
like just history of nations
I know we have the Arabian
peninsula today, we talk about it
but obviously over time
and over history, things change
and borders change
but essentially when it comes to Arabia
in the Bible time, this is essentially
when it comes to Israel, the land of Canaan
it's the land that is southeast
to Israel
and today we have Saudi Arabia
and of course Saudi Arabia
takes up, I think from memory, about four fifths
of the Arabian peninsula
and then we have other nations that make up Arabia
Qatar
am I right about that?
brother Tim? Bahrain, I think?
maybe
someone help me out here
Yemen? Oman?
Oman?
United Arab Emirates
I don't know, is that part of it?
yeah, it's called Arab Emirates
so, United Arab Emirates
okay, so it's for the people that were living
in this area, obviously
in the time of Isaiah
but the burden upon Arabia
in the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge
all ye travelling companies
of the
the day near
alright, now let's get going there
verse number 14
the inhabitants of the land of Timah
brought water to him
that was thirsty
and prevented with their bread
him that fled
you might be saying, pastor, who are the
what are these names, what's Timah? verse number 14
come with me to another passage
come with me to Genesis 25
I just want to show you this, Genesis 25
and verse number 13
Genesis 25 and verse number 13
now again, I've not
done the deep study here, so anybody
that knows can help me out or correct me if I'm wrong
but growing up
in the Christian world
growing up in church
we know the story of Abraham
and his promised son Isaac
and we know that there was a lapse of faith
and that Abraham
you know, had another son with another woman
and that son was Ishmael
now, I've been taught my whole life
and maybe it's correct, I don't know
you know, because the church is supposed to be the pillar on the ground of truth
so I'm hoping this was true
but I've heard that the Arabs
essentially come from the line of Ishmael
you correct me later on if I'm wrong
but
what we're about to read seems to
confirm that to be true
so in Genesis 25 verse number 13
it says
and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael
by their names, according to their
generations, the first born
of Ishmael
Nebadjov and Kedah
and Abdil
and Mipsam and Mishma
and Dumah
which was mentioned before
but I don't think it's the same Dumah
and Massa
Haider and Timah
so remember we saw the land
inhabitants of the land of Timah
well that's Timah
Jethu, Nap, Fish and Kedah
alright, so
going by that, and I'm assuming
the preachers that I've heard say this
this is the proof text, I think
that again, just confirming that
the Arabians apparently seem to be
from Ishmael
now again, those that know history
sometimes in the Bible
names are repeated and it could come from
a different source, I don't know
but if you know better than me, let me know after the sermon
but it seems to be confirming
these passages together
come back with me to Isaiah 21 and verse number 15
He said unto me
Within a year, according to the years of
Anhilin, and all the glory
of Kedah, remember Kedah was mentioned as well
as one of the descendants of Ishmael
it says that the glory of Kedah
shall fail
alright, so God seems to be saying to Isaiah
that this destruction
over the
the conquest over
the Arabs is going to happen
within a specific time frame
He says according to the years of Anhilin
so it's very specific
and within a year
I don't know what it was like living back then
I don't know what the years of Anhilin
exactly represents
but it would be something similar today
like if you're hired, if you're an employee
we also have years of Anhilin
so we have the end of the financial year
right, like June 30th
that's the end of the year
you do your taxes, you get your tax return
and the 1st of July
is the beginning of a new year of Anhilin
if you want to call it like that
so I think it's something along the same lines
that God is prophesying that Arabia
is going to be taken over
and then verse 17
and the residue of the number of archers
so these are
the armies
or the skilled warriors
of the Arabs
the archers
the mighty men of the tomb of Kedah
shall be diminished
so they'll be wiped out I guess
the Lord God of Israel have spoken it
now
another interesting fact is that Ishmael
and I can't remember the reference right now
just something that's in my mind
was known to be a skilled archer
that's recorded also in the Bible
so it seems like if that's the case
then he's also taught his children
and his grandchildren, generations that came out of that lineage
to be these powerful archers
but they too are going to be overrun
by this burden
and again, historically it appears that this burden
in this reference here
might be the Assyrian empire
it might be, okay
but sometimes it's very hard because like we're looking at this one chapter
we're talking about Babylon, we're talking about the Medo-Persian empire
but it seems like
this final vision
is something that was closer
within the year, this was during
earlier time in Isaiah's ministry
where this might be then a reference to the Assyrian empire
anyway brethren
the title for the sermon was Set a Watchman
Blessed
Blessed Our Baptist Church needs a full time watchman
and one day I want to set a watchman of this church
I am the watchman but I'm part time
okay, it's like I can only watch on Thursday nights
and I'm relying on the rest of you to just fill the gaps when we can
but please continue praying
because the watchman is important
the role of the watchman is important
okay
you know, several people here
at our church, New Life
even people that aren't part of my church
and have contacted me
you know, I'd like to be a pastor one day and this and that
and then over the years they realize
you know, it's not that easy
and it's not easy, you know
but here's the thing, I don't want to discourage anyone from doing it
because there's going to be great rewards in heaven for it
you know
if you can be faithful to God, if you can study God's word
there's no rush
you know, we do things with God's timing
as much as I want to rush it
in my flesh
I also don't want to rush it in my spirit
because I know how important this role is
and I'm not trying to say, oh Pastor Kevin, I'm so good
no, I'm not
I just thank God that I was raised in a Christian home
thank God, I've read my Bible for over many years
and I've had the blessings of being educated
in God's word and study it
and read it and absorb it
and been saved for such a long time
but you know
for blessing up our church to grow
for it to be protected from
the enemies that are out there
we need a full-time watchman
so please, continue to pray for this church
don't be satisfied
oh, our pastor comes just on Thursday
well, thank God for that
thank God that I can come
and I'll be here again this Sunday
and I'll be here again this Thursday
but continue praying to the Lord that we would please
set us a watchman over this church
so we can flourish, so we can do well
so we can defend this church
and we can be used by God to proclaim the word
whether positive or whether negative